2012/01/30 12:26:45 PM cjcprop Posts: 3	Hi guys, My tenant's lease will expire end Feb. He indicated that he would like to stay on, on a month to month basis. My lease does make provision for this. Is a normal email by the tenant requesting to stay on on a month to month basis, and that I agree to it, sufficient. Or do we need to do more documentation. Please assist. Thanks for your help
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2012/02/09 07:19:37 PM Figjam Posts: 5	Hi cjcprop, The rental housing act states that a lease does not have to be reduced to writing unless requested by the tenant. That being said, it would probably be beneficial to you to draw up a one pager renewal lease document, stating the Landlord and Tenant's name and I.D., the agreed term i.e. month to month, as well as the agreed notice period i.e 2 months, taking into account that the CPA states a min of a 40 day notice period, which will take precedence over anything to the contrary you sign with the tenant should the matter be taken to court, in other words a 1 month notice period is probably not ideal in the event you want to impliment it or vice versa, and the receiving party is not satisfied with it, this is not referring to the 20 business days notice a tenant may give to vacate the property with the penalty agreed to for such notice given, also I am not sure if a renewal would be deemed to be considered a 'lease' signed after 1 April 2011 when the CPA came into effect, perhaps someone can comment on that? Also state that the renewal signed is an extension of the original lease and that all terms agreed to in the original lease form part of the renewal lease, this for both yours and the tenants benefit and covers you as your lease has done. If and when a problem arises, it is always better to have everything in writing. Regards, Candice edited by Figjam on 2012/02/09
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2012/02/11 09:35:59 AM Marlon Shevelew Posts: 78	One quick thing people. Toamend the lease by way of an addendum has the effect of making the currentlease potentially longer than the 24 month maximum and falling foul of the CPA. Just be very careful when it comes to extensions of leases. -- Marlon Shevelew Specialist Landlord / Tenant law Attorney / Consumer Protection Act expert and National Legal Advisor to TPN www.marlonshevelew.co.za
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2012/02/11 10:38:50 AM Figjam Posts: 5	Thanks Marlon, so do you suggest drawing up a new lease all together? we draw up new CPA leases for the tenants that had the old leases in place ourselves, but for month to month, it makes it difficult as we cannot demand the tenant to commit to a specific time frame when they want month to month.. perhaps we should add 'not exceeding 24 months' to it then to avoid it falling foul of the CPA? Kind Regards, Candice
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